Era of The Dead
by collussus96
Summary: A new era has begun. The dead have risen, taking over the cities in search of living people to eat. This story contains all the serie characters several OC's. Not all people who died in the series will die in this story. eventual Rick G./Michonne in Season 6. Eventual Beth Greene/OMC, Paul R./OMC, Andrea/OMC, Hershel G./Deanna M., and several other pairings. Rated M. Male pregnancy
1. The Beginning Part One

**Summary:** **In this story there will be a lot of OC's among maybe other characters from other series. Some people who died in the walking dead series will die in this story while others won't. Also, in this story, men can get pregnant! The only difference is that men can only give birth through a caesarean section while women can give birth naturally. If you don't like it, don't read the story.**

 **Disclaimer:** **I will only put up this disclaimer once; I. DO.** ** _NOT_** **. OWN. THE WALKING DEAD!**

 _ **Chapter one: The Beginning Part One**_

* * *

It all happened on a normal Wednesday morning. That Wednesday was the day shit hit the fan in King County, Georgia. The thing about society screeching abruptly to a halt is that there's no warning. The news sure as hell never predicted it. There were no signals, no change in air…Absolutely nothing…

How does an entire civilization as you know it end without even the slightest hint that such devastation would come upon the population? Some always knew the end of the world would come someday, though they probably expected it to be less horrifying…

Global warming, nuclear warfare, pollution, natural disasters…Ask any scientist of the day who's still breathing, and they would've told you that it would be one of those that would have been our end. Just yesterday, every citizen of Earth were carrying out their everyday lives like they had done their entire lives. The next day, they were gone. Or, at least most of them were. There's no explanation of how it started, where it started, what it was, or why. It just happened. The dead were coming alive once more at a fast rate…And there was NO way to stop it.

-o-O-o- – -x-X-x- – -o-O-o-

Nolan opened the shower door, reaching out to take a white fluffy towel. He quickly dried himself off before wrapping the towel around his waist. Making sure that his towel wouldn't slip off, he stepped out of the bathroom. He rolled his eyes when he saw his husband sleeping, spread all over the bed, the sheet barely covering his crotch. 'One thing will never change,' Nolan thought fondly, shaking his head with a smile on his face. 'At least he doesn't snore…'

He quickly put on his jockstraps his husband bought for him, not wanting him to wear normal underwear. He supposed that he should be glad he could wear these since his husband would rather have him go commando every day. He put on the rest of his clothes before making his way downstairs after waking up his sixteen year old brothers. He got custody of his little brothers, Nickolas and Matthew Black after the sudden death of their parents, Nathan and Nathalie Black who both died in a plane crash.

He yawned as he set the table before pouring himself some coffee. He sat down at the table, taking a sip of his coffee before closing his eyes a little. He really hated being an adult sometimes. Mind you, the freedom to do what you wanted to do was exhilarating and such, but it was also a major pain in the ass.

"Morning dad," two voices chorused.

His eyes snapped open, coming face to face with his younger brothers. The truth was that both Nolan, Matthew and Nickolas weren't close to their parents as they were always traveling. Refusing to let some stranger raise his brothers and himself, he raised his brothers himself. When he was eighteen, he got custody of his brothers, and married four years ago when he was twenty-one. Even though he continued to tell both of them to call him by his name, they continued calling him dad, just like when they first started that habit at the age of six. Eventually he accepted it. He would whack his husband's head though when he joked about being a granddad before he reached his thirties. He was _NOT_ going to be a grandpa when he wasn't even thirty yet.

"Hello Nick, Matt, did you sleep well?" he asked, smiling when he saw his brothers/sons immediately reach for the coffee.

"Well enough I guess," Nick muttered, sipping from his coffee. "I just wished I didn't have school today."

Nolan snorted. "The same with me Kiddo, I really don't want to go to work today. Half of our staff called in sick which means that the other half and I have to work for two. What makes it even worse for me and the others is the fact that the hospital's a madhouse because of that flu right now." He said.

Matthew looked at his father with a hopeful look, "Can't we all call in sick for this week? Please!" he pleaded.

Nolan sighed, opening his mouth to respond when he was intercepted by his husband.

"That's a good idea." He said, holding up his hand when his husband tried to speak up, "No, Nolan. Frankly, I'd feel a lot better if you two stayed inside this week. We've been getting reports of vicious attacks while a lot of people carrying the virus/flu died."

"I can't just lie!" Nolan responded. "I have responsibilities-"

"Look, the four of us will call in sick with the police department, school and the hospital, alright?" Wyatt interjected, knowing his husband would only agree if he did the same.

Nolan looked at his husband, ignoring his sons their pleading looks sent his way. "Fine," he reluctantly said, giving in.

Wyatt beamed at his husband, "I'll do the calls." He said before taking his cellphone from his back pocket, dialing his work while leaving the room.

Nolan turned to Nick and Matthew who smirked at him. "Soo," Nick drawled, wiggling his eyebrows. "Had some fun last night?"

Nolan turned red before whacking Nick's head with a scowl on his face. "Just wait when you get a boyfriend or girlfriend, brat. I'll be sure to return the favor!" he said.

Nick paled. "Dad? You're kidding right?" he asked.

Nolan smirked in reply before getting up on his feet,

"Dad?"

He walked towards the sink.

"Daddy," Nick whined. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"Want some whine with that cheese?" Nolan countered.

"Daddy," Nick continued. "Please tell me you won't embarrass me and my future boyfriend or girlfriend?"

"Or mine." Matthew added.

Nolan turned to face his kids, "I'm your father," he said with a smirk. "It's my duty to embarrass you in front of your boyfriend or girlfriend."

Nick and Matthew both scowled before sticking out his tongue, crossing his arms over his chest.

Nolan rolled his eyes. Sometimes it felt like he had a pair of three year old sons instead of sixteen years old sons.

"It's been done," Wyatt announced as he reentered the kitchen. "Though I think the hospital isn't happy about losing another staff member. They told me three others called in sick already while several others haven't even shown up yet."

Nolan nodded, "I guess that we'll all stay inside for the week, though we'll have to do groceries today."

Wyatt nodded hesitantly, before speaking up. "We'll go in an hour." He said before leaving the kitchen, knowing his husband would need to talk to his brother in-laws/sons.

"Nick? Matt?" Nolan started hesitantly. "You'd tell me if you are getting bullied? Right?"

Nick put down his cup of coffee, before staring at his hands on his lap. "Yes…" he muttered slowly, wishing he could just disappear already. Matthew just looked away.

Nolan sighed. "Nick, I'd rather want you to tell me to shut the fuck up than to lie to me." He said, "You know that already."

After a few minutes of silence, Nolan spoke up again. "Wyatt and I decided to let you two transfer to one of those zero bullying-policy schools. "

Nick and Matthew's heads snapped up. "But that means that I'll have to board there!" they exclaimed wide-eyed.

Nolan nodded, "You'd come home Friday after class and return Sunday night." He said, sipping a little from his coffee. "While I hate the thought of not seeing you two every day like I'm used to, I'd rather have you somewhere you both can be yourself without being bullied all the time."

They both nodded. They both sat there for about thirty minutes, occasionally drinking some coffee when the door rang.

Nolan was about to get up when he heard his husband yell that he'd get it.

A few moments later, the door to the kitchen slammed open, causing Nolan, Matthew and Nick to jump in fright.

"God, Lori!" Nolan snapped, glaring at her a little. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Wyatt entered the kitchen, frowning a little at a frightened Lori. "Lori, what's wrong?"

"T-The h-hospital." She said panicking, before taking a breath to calm down. "Those virus people who die turn back to life, biting you."

Nick stared at her before snorting, "Yeah right," he muttered.

"It's the truth!" Lori screeched. "A-ask Shane. He's outside in the car!" Wyatt nodded before leaving the house to talk with his colleague.

She calmed herself down, "Just…trust me for now…OK?"

"Nick, Matt,…" Nolan said slowly, turning to look at the twins. "I want you to pack your things."

"Bu-"

"No buts young men!" Nolan interjected, pointing to the ceiling. "I want you to fill your bag with clothes and some toiletries."

When Matt and Nick didn't move immediately, Nolan spoke up again. "Now!"

"Fine," they both muttered, leaving the kitchen and going to their rooms. A few moments later, Wyatt stormed in.

"You okay?" Nolan asked in concern at seeing his husband so pale.

"Nolan, I need you to gather our clothes. I'll gather whatever food we still have available. We're leaving." Wyatt said before hurrying to a kitchen drawer, grabbing a sharp kitchen knife.

Nolan stood up, "Sure…What is going on though?" he asked curiously.

Wyatt froze before speaking up, "Fucking zombies."

"Where are we going?" Nolan asked, going pale. While he doubted it were zombies, he knew his husband didn't joke about something that could be detrimental to their lives.

"To Atlanta. They said on the radio that Atlanta was safe." Lori responded. "We'll wait for you,…just hurry."

Nolan nodded before running upstairs while Lori left the house to get back into the car with Shane and Carl.


	2. The Beginning Part Two

_**Chapter Two: The Beginning Part Two**_

* * *

"Andrew," Amy hissed, shoving him awake. "Will you please stop it?"

Andrew jolted out of his sleep. He'd been distant from his sisters all day, ever since they'd left the airport together.

"Approaching Atlanta," the voice at the intercom announced. Andrew couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something unsettling about the surrounding passengers.

"What now?" He grumbled as alertness came back to his system. He turned to his sister.

"You were kicking," Amy replied. "We're descending soon."

"Finally," Andrew muttered. Ever since he was young, he detested airplanes.

Amy leant back, ignoring the intercom's announcement of the plane's descent. Andrew was alert now and he understood why he found that there was something up with the plane. The air hosts and hostesses were bustling around, giving each other sharp whispers and looking anxiously around. Andrew hoped it wasn't anything bad, though he couldn't be sure. He looked behind him, seeing his eldest sister's frown. Out of their family, Andrea was the sharpest tool from the bunch. He knew there was something up, something that was being kept from the passengers. And apparently, so did Andrea.

"You're distant again," Amy chided. Andrew glanced at her, "Sorry," he muttered.

Both Amy and Andrew winced when the feeling of the plane descending hit their ears. They both put their fingers in their ears before leaning back. When the plane finally landed, Andrew thought the intercom was too quiet, considering they'd just landed. The three siblings were all confused as passengers were prevented from standing by the air stewards.

"There's definitely something wrong," Andrew muttered quietly. Amy grimaced, somehow knowing she wouldn't like what was going on.

Andrew glanced out of the windows in the hopes to catch a glimpse of the airport. He could see the modern, glass building in the distance, but it was surprisingly empty. _Too empty._

What happened when they were in the air from Florida?

"How weird," Amy said, "There's no signal," she explained. She stood up lightly when a steward walked over to her and politely demanded her to sit down.

"We're just facing some problems currently, Ma'am," he told her when she asked why she couldn't stand.

"What problems?" Andrew inquired loudly, glancing out of the window again. When he turned to the air steward, he looked kind of uncomfortable. As if he'd admit an inconvenient truth or something.

"For the past five hours or so, we've failed to initiate contact with anybody," the steward admitted, clearing his throat. "We've arrived and there's still no one around to contact. We tried so many government officials but many of them weren't contactable, and those we did manage to contact were incredibly vague and told us to go to our destination and to radio them there." Amy, Andrea and Andrew paled. "But there's nobody there…" Andrew concluded. The steward grimaced as he nodded.

The plane erupted into chaos. A lot of passengers became aggressive, demanding that they were released from out of the plane. Andrew noticed a lot of people trying to phone their relatives, hands trembling in fear. He and Amy occasionally exchanged small, worried glances. Even Andrea seemed scared though she hid it well.

"Sit down!" A female hostess demanded suddenly. Andrew looked her way, to see a well-dressed female flight attendant in her late forties holding a microphone in her manicured hands. Everybody went silent at hearing her commanding voice. "As you know, we're having a minor problem."

"Minor problem!?" An angry, obese middle-aged woman screeched angrily. "We fucking landed here on a fucking empty airport!"

"All things will be sorted out!" The hostess assured, losing her patience. "The pilot is discussing things with the US government officials. We will go into the terminal and follow their instructions." She gave the screeching woman a hard look. "I just ask you to stay in your seat until we receive further instructions. I can assure you that in a couple of hours you'll be reunited with your families."

She gave a fake smile before disappearing into the cockpit again.

"I don't like this," Andrew said, looking once more out of the window.

"I don't like this either but we still have to do as they say for our own safeties." Amy responded.

"I know. I just want to say we are not separating from each other inside the terminal." Andrew said. Amy nodded in agreement. They sat there in silence for about ten minutes before one of the stewards reached the front of the plane. The steward glanced at the crowd obviously knowing that they weren't prepared for what he was going to have to tell them.

"There's been a problem," he started, sounding mortified. He was pale and shaking uncontrollably. "As you all know, we've been having problems initiating contact with people back at ground,"

People looked at him in an eerie silence, "Now we've landed, we've finally managed to contact an American governmental agency. They told us that in America, there's been a problem." The steward's voice was shaking. "For particular reasons, they can't tell us what that problem is," several people started whispering, becoming panicked. "But something is happening." The steward continued, "The airport has been evacuated for a few hours, but they told us that we're to wait inside the airport terminal, by the shops and restaurants, where there'll be food. Hopefully, the army will be able to pick us up."

"We've connected to the terminal," The hostess from before informed them, just as scared as her colleague. "We'll be packing our belongings now and make our way into the airport. We're all to stay in a group, no splitting apart. We will wait for the army to arrive and everything will be fine."

Andrea immediately unbuckled her seatbelt, making her way to her younger siblings. "Come on, stay close to me." She ordered. Amy and Andrew both nodded, unbuckling their safety belts before getting to their feet. Others people got out of their seat as well.

They slowly made their way to the terminal.

Andrew and his elder sisters made their way towards the terminal, having nothing but each a bag. The large group of passengers, led by the stewards, eventually got to their destination.

They passed an airport convenience store where Andrea immediately reprimanded her brother when he grabbed large bottles of water, putting them into his backpack.

"Andrew!" she hissed. "What the hell are you doing? You're stealing!"

Andrew rolled his eyes, "Relax Andrea, I have a feeling that the shop owners won't be back too soon," he said coolly, pointing at the blood all around the counter before moving onto food. He stopped when his bag was stuffed. "And if they do come back, the missing water and food won't bother them too much."

"He's right Andrea. We should fill our bags as well." Amy said, turning slightly green at the sight of blood. The male steward that delivered the message that something was wrong, approached them. "I agree with your younger siblings, ma'am." The steward said softly.

Andrea sighed before doing what she was told, along with Amy. The steward, after introducing himself as Dylan Gray, also took a candy bar and a bottle water.

They four of them sat together, a little distance between them and the others for about an half an hour when a loud scream pierced through the building. Dylan, Amy, Andrea and Andrew reacted immediately, getting up on their feet, looking out for any danger. They thought they were safe but it seems they thought wrong, especially if the scream had anything to say about it.

Immediately the screaming began as some of the plane's passengers charged around like headless chickens.

Andrew slung his backpack on his back, "We need to get out of here," he said hurriedly.

"Where do we go? The only way out is the way the screaming came from," Amy yelled hysterically. "That's obviously not a safe way to go!"

"I don't know," Andrea said, "But people are somehow dying, we need to get out of here."

Both Amy and Andrea snatched their packs, leaving the food court with their younger brother. The young steward followed them.

The three siblings and the young steward did not know how it all happened or why. All they knew was that the food court they just had escaped was a feast for rotten _dead_ corpses.

"Drew, please," Amy pleaded as she glanced at her brother, who was trying to pickpocket the door at the emergency exit. He was struggling. "We need to get out of here!"

When he succeeded, they ran through the emergency exit, into the parking lot. The parking spaces were mostly empty, with a few abandoned cars here and there.

Andrea jumped when Andrew took the axe she found back in the terminal, smashing through a car window. The car alarm went off.

"Get inside," he ordered. When they were inside the car, Amy panicked, "We don't have any keys, what are we going to do?"

Andrew simply smirked before bending down, looking through the mechanics of the car. His eyes lit up when he found something in the glove compartment.

"Well," he drawled. "Hot-wiring is an option…"

"You know how to do that!?" Andrea asked aghast, raising an eyebrow. Her brother just turned around and gave her a look, prompting her to sigh. Why did she have to be a damn lawyer? The car alarm was still blaring. "Just don't tell me how you learned it and get the four of us the hell away from here."


	3. Days Gone Bye

_**Chapter Three: Days Gone Bye**_

* * *

 ** _Day 61_**

Rick Grimes sighed as he noticed he was running low on gas on a deserted Georgia highway. He drove his police cruiser past several overturned and damaged cars, towards a gas station. He stepped out of his car when the vehicle was blocked by several damaged cars and tents. Rick grimaced when he concluded it must have been some makeshift campsite that was long abandoned or swarmed by a herd of walkers. As he walked by, he saw several corpses and a lot of garbage throughout the gas station. When he arrived at the gas station, he sighed in disappointment when a handmade sign saying there was 'no gas' was hanging at the station.

Rick decided to continue his search when he heard something. He silently ducked down behind a car where he was standing. As he looked under the car, he caught a glimpse of feet of a little girl on the other side of the car. He observed the girl, who picked up a teddy bear on the ground.

He got up his feet and walked closer to her as she was walking away from him.

"Little girl." Rick called out. "Little gi-" Rick's face fell as she turned around. Her lips and right cheek had been torn away, exposing raw teeth and muscle. She started towards him, growling. She started approaching him, getting steadily faster to her prey. Rick stepped backwards, drawing his weapon, shooting her in the head.

/Flashback/

Rick and his partner and best friend. His brother in all but blood, Shane Walsh were sitting in the police cruiser, eating hamburgers and fries. They soon started cracking jokes about the differences between men and women when the conversation turned to Rick's wife, Lori. Rick's face fell at the mention of his wife before explaining they were having a lots of fights recently. That his own wife accused him that morning of not caring about his family, right in front of their only son, Carl Grimes.

"The difference between men and women?" Rick mused. "I would never say something that cruel," He decided. "Especially not in front of Carl."

Shane was about to answer when the cruiser's radio cracked. Someone from their neighboring Linden County Police Department reported a high-speed pursuit in progress, involving two armed suspects. Rick and Shane glanced at each other before dumping their fast-food and rushing towards the location of the pursuit. After a while, they laid down a spike strip, hoping it would be enough to stop the vehicle before meeting up with three of their co-workers, Lambert Kendal, Wyatt Black and Leon Basset.

Rick scolded their youngest officer, Leon Basset, when he mused about their chances of getting on a police chase reality show. Leon, embarrassed, did what Rick told him to do and sheepishly checked his weapon for in case he would need it.

Shane turned to Rick, "It would be cool though," Shane commented. "Getting on one of those shows."

Rick rolled his eyes.

They prepared themselves when the car approached, pursued by two more police cruisers, containing the Linden County Sheriff's Department officers. The car with the suspects inside, drove over the spike strip, shredding the car's tires. The driver lost control his control over his wheel, causing the car to flip off the road, rolling several times before coming to a stop upside down in a field.

"Holy shit." Shane muttered, his gun cocked as the officers descended down on the destroyed vehicle. "That wasn't part of our plan."

Rick once more rolled his eyes before carefully approaching the overturned car. Suddenly, a man emerged from the vehicle, immediately shooting at the officers.

"Drop your gun!" Rick demanded.

The man ignored him, shooting directly at Rick. It hit him in the chest before Shane shot the man, killing him instantly as Rick fell to the ground.

A second man emerged from the upside down car, immediately shooting at the other officers. Wyatt shot him in the chest, killing him.

"I'm alright," Rick said as he pulled himself up with the help of Shane. "The son of a bitch shot my bulletproof vest."

"Shane, Wyatt, you do not tell Lori that happened!" Rick commanded afterwards. "Ever!"

No-one noticed a third man crawling free from the wrecked car. The man raised his gun, firing and hitting Rick in the side where the vest didn't protect him. Shane quickly shot and killed the third man as Rick fell to the ground bleeding before rushing to his best friend's aid.

"Rick!" Shane commanded. "Come on buddy, stay awake! Rick!"

Shane turned toward Leon, "Call an ambulance!" he barked.

/Time Skip/

Disoriented. Rick concluded as he found himself staring at a white ceiling. He looked at his right, his eyes taking in the dead and wilted flowers in the ugly vase. He looked in confusion as he discovered the beeping of the machine had stopped, as had the clock in his room. The room was empty. Rick felt weak from his injury and the dehydration. Rick pulled himself out of bed before falling on the floor.

"Nurse!" He shouted weakly as he tried to get up. "Nurse!"

When it became obvious that no-one was coming to help him, he stumbled into the bathroom.

"I'm so not paying for this crappy treatment." Rick grumbled before drinking water directly from the tap. Afterwards, he headed for the door. He opened the door, noticing a gurney blocking the entrance to his room. He pushed it aside before continuing his path in the messy, dark and disorienting hallway.

The hallway's light flickered while wires hung from the ceiling. He went to the nurse's station, trying the phone. He dropped it, disappointed when it was dead. He found a set of matches while looking for anything useful on the nurse's desk when a flickering light caught his attention. He walked towards it, looking horrified, confused and scared when he saw ravaged body of a nurse from behind the doors. He backed away, continuing further down the hallway. Once there, he saw walls covered in blood, along with several bullet holes.

As he continued, he found a double door, leading into the cafeteria that had been chained shut. 'Don't open. Dead inside.' He read the message, scrawled on the chained doors in black paint. When he was about to back away, several hands tried to reach passed the chained doors. Terrified, Rick took a few steps back.

He tried to use the elevator, but excited through a heavy door into a dark stairwell that reeked of rotting flesh when the elevators didn't work either. He choked on the smell as he went down the stairs, lighting matches until he found the exit.

He opened a door to the back of the hospital and the loading bay, smiling when sunlight greeted him. After his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, his smile fell as he saw hundreds of decayed bodies. The decayed bodies were wrapped in sheets, covered by flies, arranged in rows and piles. He quickly left the hospital, stumbling upon a hill. He looked around the terrain. He saw a military helicopter, sandbags, and many other signs of a military cordon but everything was abandoned, except for the dead bodies lying on the ground.

He wandered down the road in his hospital gown before spotting an overturned bicycle in a park. As he reached for it, a badly mutilated woman who was badly decayed, her legs and lips missing turned and reached for him. It was moaning and groaning pathetically for Rick as it tried to grab its prey. Startled by the mutilated woman, Rick fell off his bicycle. He quickly regained himself before remounting the bike, hastily speeding away.

Rick quickly biked over to his home to find the front door open, and the house deserted. He ran inside, calling out for Lori and Carl. When it became obvious they weren't there, he headed back outside the house and sat down on the step before spotting a man stumbling down the road. He waved his hand to try and get his attention, not noticing the small boy creep up from behind him and hitting him with a shovel. Rick fell on the floor.

"Carl, I found you." Rick muttered, disoriented and confused.

"Daddy, I got this sumbitch! I'm gonna smack him dead!" the boy screamed. The boy's father, Morgan Jones, approached the stumbling thing what used to be a man Rick was waving to and shot it in the head. He then walked over to Rick, pointing his gun at his face.

"What's that bandage for?" Morgan demanded, cocking his gun. "You will tell me, or I will kill you." he threatened.

Before Rick could reply, he passed out.

Rick woke up a little later with his arms and legs tied to a bed. Morgan's son, Duane Jones, stood guard with a baseball bat.

"Did you get bit?" Morgan demanded stiffly.

"Just shot as far as I know," Rick said. Morgan checked his forehead.

"No fever." Morgan said as he withdrew his hand. "It would've killed you by now."

He set Rick free from the bedposts with a switchblade after warning him to not try anything funny, unless he had a death wish. As they went to eat, Rick recognized the house as the house of his neighbors.

"This is Wyatt and Nolan's place." Rick said.

"It was empty when we got here." Morgan said.

"Don't not look out of the window because they will see the light." Morgan warned afterwards, after a moment of silence.

"What are you talking about?" Rick asked confused.

"Where were you these last few weeks?" Morgan demanded, looking at Rick in disbelief.

"I was shot." Rick explained. "I just awoke from my coma today."

Morgan nodded before explaining the outbreak and the following months to a confused and disoriented Rick.

"I never should have fired that gun today." Morgan said. "The sound draws them in. now they're all over the street."

"You killed a harmless man in cold blood!" Rick accused.

"It was a walker." Morgan corrected. "Sometimes those things get more active after dark."

Before they began eating dinner, Duane insisted that his father gave a blessing.

"Lord, please watch over us in these crazy days," Morgan said, proceeding to explain Rick the man he shot would have tried to eat them.

"One thing I do know is that you can't get bit," Morgan warned. "Bites will kill you. the fever burns you out. But then after a while…you come back as one of them."

"Seen it happen." Duane added sadly, referring to his late mother. They talked some more when suddenly a car alarm started to go off outside. Morgan quickly put out the lights, peering out to the street through heavy covered windows and boarded up doors with Rick and Duane. The street was filled with walkers, drawn by the noise of the alarm. When a black woman wearing a nightgown appeared, walking up to the front door of the house, Duane ran away, crying. Morgan went to his son, comforting him while Rick continued to stare through the peephole at the front door. The woman looked around as she tried to turn the door handle.

"She died in the other room on that bed," Morgan said. "I should have put her down. I just didn't have it in me. She's the mother of my child. I just carried her outside…And I just left her there."

/The Next Morning/

Rick walked outside, carrying a baseball bat. Morgan started instructing him how to kill walkers.

"We're sure they're dead?" Rick asked, approaching a walker near the stoop.

"They're dead," Morgan assured. "Except for those things their brain. That's why it's gotta be their head."

Morgan and Duane excited the house behind Rick, approaching a walker that was slowly rising from a sitting position, leaning against the fence at the edge of the front yard. Rick swung the bat repeatedly at the walkers head, beating the walker down until it stopped moving. He quickly tired, due to his injuries.

After practicing zombie killing at the house, Rick told Morgan about his suspicions that his wife and son were still alive. He pointed out that only they would grab family pictures and family albums.

"Photo albums," Morgan laughed, "My wife, same thing. There I am packing survival gear, she's grabbing photo albums."

"They're in Atlanta, I bet." Duane said. At Rick's confused look, Morgan explained that the government was telling people to head toward a refugee center there with military protection and food, before the broadcasts stopped.

Rick, Morgan and Duane then headed towards the King County Sheriff's Department, where they were able to take showers with hot water. Afterwards, Rick packed a duffel bag with several guns and ammo and changed his clothes. He put on his Sheriff's uniform and Sheriff hat from within his locker. He then handed Morgan a riffle and some ammunition.

Loading the weapons into the trunk of his cruiser, Rick prepared to set off for Atlanta. Morgan told Rick that he'd follow in a few days, once Duane had learned how to shoot. Rick nodded in acceptance before handing Morgan a walkie-talkie. It had a low battery so Rick told to only turn it on every day at dawn to make contact.

Morgan nodded before turning around. Before leaving, Morgan gave him a final warning. "They may not seem like much one at a time, but in a group, all riled up and hungry? Man, you better watch your ass."

The farewell was interrupted when Rick spotted Leon Basset, one of his fellow officers who had turned into a walker. Leon clawed at the chain link fence separating them. Rick quickly took him down, before he and Morgan drove away from the Sheriff's Department in opposite directions.

Back at the home Rick had spent the night, Duane was covering the windows before dark. Meanwhile Morgan headed up to the attic, carrying the riffle Rick left him. He looked at old photo albums and pictures of his wife. Tearfully, he positioned the riffle facing the street, and began shooting the walkers down. He commanded Duane to stay downstairs when his son got startled by the gun shots. He hoped his gunshots would draw the attention of his wife. But when she appeared, Morgan broke down, still not able to put down his dead wife.

Meanwhile, Rick returned to the park where he found the legless female walker. He found her again, crawling helplessly. She tried to reach for her prey to satisfy her hunger.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," Rick said, shooting her in the head with his gun before heading back to his car.

While he was driving to Atlanta on Highway 85, Rick sent out a broadcast on his police cruiser's CB radio. At the same time, in a camp outside the city with an old man perched atop an old RV with a pair of binoculars, a group of people received the transmission. A young blonde girl rushed toward the CB, but couldn't get a reply through. Shane, Lori, Nolan and Carl were amongst them, but they didn't recognize Rick's voice over the garbled transmission. By the time Shane took over the CB controls and introduced himself, Rick had already left the emergency broadcast channel.

"I've been telling you for a week that we should put signs up on the Highway to warn people away from the city!" Lori snapped. "I'll go do it on my own!"

"It's too risky!" Shane argued. Lori walked off, fuming. Shane went after her. "You can be pissed at me all you want, it's not gonna change anything!" he told her.

Inside Lori's tent, Shane continued to tell her that she couldn't run off half-cocked. That she needed to keep it together for Carl, who already lost his father. Lori reluctantly agreed before Carl entered the tent. Lori quickly promised her son that she wasn't going anywhere and told her son to finish his chores. Carl ran off, smiling.

/End Flashback/

After getting back on the road, he drove a few miles further until his car ran out of fuel, so he abandoned his car on the Highway. He headed out on foot with a gas can, after grabbing his family picture he kept above his rear-view mirror, stashing it in his jacket pocket. He then approached a farm house, looking for gas. He peeked in the window, discovering a man that shot his wife before killing himself. On the wall 'GOD FORGIVE US' was painted in what he knew was blood.

Rick then tried to locate the keys of the pick-up truck that was parked in their driveway, but stopped looking when he found a living horse on their property. He saddled up the horse and rode the rest of the way to Atlanta on it. When he arrived in Atlanta, he was disappointed as it looked nothing like Morgan had described. Hundreds of vehicles had tried to leave the city, but were burned out on the other side of the freeway. The road heading into the city was completely deserted. He continued his way into the city of Atlanta.

Trotting on the streets on a horse, he found several more burned out vehicles and an overrun blockade. He saw a pair of ravens pecking at a dead animal on the streets. A few walkers along the way took notice of him, so he and the horse sped up. He looked back to see many more emerging from buses and alleys.

Rick caught the reflection of a helicopter passing through a skyscraper. He sped up the horse to try and follow it, leading himself into a herd of hundreds of walkers. He failed to escape as walkers swarmed him and the horse. He fell off the horse as the walkers started to devour the horse. While the walkers were distracted by the horse, he managed to scramble underneath an abandoned tank. Walkers then took notice of him and started to reach under it, trying to grab him from both ends of the tank.

Rick shot several of them, but more and more kept coming. In desperation, he put the gun to his head. "Lori, Carl, I'm sorry." He apologized. As he was about to pull the trigger, he saw an open hatch underneath the tank and crawled inside the tank just before the walkers could get him.

As he sat in the tank, trying to catch his breath, he took a gun from a walker that was once a soldier and continued to search through his uniform for anything of use. The movement awakened it and it turned to bite Rick. Rick backed away before shooting it. A deafening echo could be heard throughout the tank. Disoriented, he made his way to the top of the tank where the top hatch was open. He lifted his head out of the hatch to stop the ringing in his ears. He spotted the bag of guns that he dropped, but there were too many of those things to retrieve it. He groaned when the walkers noticed him and tried climbing the tank to get to him. Rick quickly closed the hatch, sealing himself in.

Rick felt unsure about what to do, and held the gun against his head, sweating when the tank radio crackled.

"Hey. Hey you, dumbass," a voice said. "You in the tank. Cozy in there?"

Ricked looked up, slowly lowering the gun from his forehead.


End file.
